Reasons
by Coins In A Jar
Summary: An abridged version of what happened during Sasuke's three years in the Hidden Sound Village. Rated T for light gore and some swear words.


**Warnings: **Spoilers about the fight between Orochimaru & Sasuke. Master-apprentice relationship. The only thing they show each other in this story is affection. Also a few swear words, some light gore.

_Italics for one or two phrases are thoughts._

_Italics for a paragraph or more are hallucinations or flashbacks._

Underlined words are titles.

**Disclaimer: **I don't own Naruto.

Enjoy. : )

-hahahahahahahahahaha-

"Did you know?"

It was one of those lazy evenings, when you've had your fill of whatever it is you wanted and sit somewhere cozy waiting to doze off.

"Did you know, Sasuke?"

Lying against his chest the boy can feel the words rumbling softly.

"Know what?"

A hand passes in his hair tugging slightly, the subtle disapproval of his master. The boy doesn't care, he's had his fill for tonight already.

"The thing about snakes."

He's barely listening and it shows. He looks at the fire with heavy lidded eyes, an empty mind.

"No"

Automatic response engineered by experience. Whenever the master wants to teach, it is better to learn.

"The...

- And I don't care."

But one doesn't have to learn all the time. The boy turns around and burrows his face in the silk robes. The master strokes his hair as one would to a favourite of his harem, a pet, a good concubine. The boy sights in contentment.

"The thing about snakes is...

- Get on with it"

Small liberties a pet might take, forgotten because of meaninglessness. What lion fears a mouse?

"They always inspire something."

The boy snorts gently.

"Sure.

- Sometimes regarded as sexual power, eroticism...

- Isn't that toads?"

The master looks down abruptly. The smirk on the boy's face proves that it wasn't accidental.

"Sometimes regarded as evil...

- Like you..."

This jape is fainter. A hand has come to rest on the master's heart, past the cool silk covering and its laughable protection. The master chuckles:

"Am I evil pet?"

The boy doesn't answer, lulled to sleep by his tiredness. The master debates whether to move, and settles for watching. The fire cracks in the background and lets shadows dance over them in one of those rare moments of permissive abandonment, accentuating shapes, sharpening roundness, softening keenness; making everything mild and the master is young again, the apprentice barely born.

_Időtlen _passes the time, all perception removed, imprisoned because - for once - everyone has to stop and catch a breath.(1)

--

He runs now, the boy who slept, he runs as fast as he can because he knows that if he is found something will happen.

He wants to hide, searches nooks and crannies for that perfect spot, but the hissing always follows and pushes him further. Up a tree? No, if he is found up there the game will end.

And he doesn't want it to. Being desired is human nature; that is his present state. The pursuer wants him - not in _that_ sense, thank you very much - but his desire is to find him, and Sasuke doesn't want it to end. For once, he wants to win, he wants to show the snake that he isn't perfect, that someone out there is better than him. And the snake wants to find this person and beat them.

So he runs.

Some snakes are territorial; this particular one wants to be the best.

So he runs even further and draws out the pleasure of the hunt.

--

The master caught the boy after a while; it is a law of nature. And the boy collapsed when he knew he was beaten, let himself be caught and laughed and laughed.

They went back to the lair, tired and sweaty. The boy let himself be washed by the master, with water just cold enough to make him shiver and contrast the touch of the hands. He let himself be dressed in silk, elegant, unpractical midnight blue gilded with darker patterns; he let the master stare at him when he was dressed, still dirty and disheveled, but proud of his creation like a clay sculptor; those golden eyes went over every detail, smoothed a crease here, tugged something there, and finally decided that only the finishing touch was requested. A fan.

«We shall have company this evening, and you will dance for me. »

Sasuke comes back in full force, all hypnotic ministrations forgotten:

« What!?

- I mean that you shall dance for my guests and me »

Relaxation is misplaced as the humiliation rankles him. His muscles tense up:

« Like hell I will!

- If that is what it takes Sasuke, » the tone is disapproving, « have you already forgotten what I taught you?

- What?

- I once told you that a ninja has to learn how to move well.

- What do you mean?

- Have you ever seen a hunter-nin in action?

- ...

- If you had, you would know that smoothness is not enough. You need to hone your techniques to gain lightness of movement, the maximum effect with the minimum of energy. »

A brow delicately raises itself:

« And what would you have me perform?

- Good boy. You will dance Leather and Fur. And when you smile at the end, I want them to be scared. »

--

Leather and Furis the story of a spirit woman who lives as a huntress. One day a man sees her in the forest and falls in love with her, chasing after her to ask for her favors. She flees and, upon arriving at a river, changes herself into an otter. She then catches fish to distract him and kills him while he naps.

The master had once kept Sasuke working on the scenes for days at a time; it was time to dredge the memories up.

--

The noise levels are increasing around the table. The last course has gone back to the kitchen and now the alcohol is flowing more generously. Business talks have begun and servants (lesser nins really) have been ordered to never let a cup go empty. Seated down at the end of the table, the boy looks over the guests; they are mostly the heads of small families, potential clients and contacts or recruiting material, nobody worth mentioning.

He had gotten a few curious looks when they came in, standing close to his master like a shadow, never letting him out of his sight; he looks like an exceptionally pretty bodyguard. He has his tessen(2) with him however, since a bodyguard needs at least one good weapon. Not that his master cannot look after himself of course.

"Sasuke! It is your turn. Dance for us! "

The boy stands up with an ugly expression: how DARE he call him so, like a vulgar servant! But now isn't the time for revenge.

Sasuke walks up to the front of the table and stills. All expressions clear his face and he is now neutral, shapeless, awaiting the music that will make him come alive.

The first chord is struck and he looks down. The sound vibrates hesitantly in the air and conversations fall silent. He is waiting.

A flute thrills and he looks up to its image, a bird. He is the huntress now, the aristocrat, the reigning power of the forest. Sasuke dances.

His movements are smooth, but it isn't right yet. The man comes along, they run, the spirit becomes mistress of the river, judging her people mercilessly. And here he hunts, fluidly, like the water she is moving through. The boy is dancing with a tessen. Its sharp edges are shrill in the music, just above the edge of hearing but you know they are there. The otter is looking for bigger game, the man is still hungry, and those guests make for an appetizing meal. Sasuke hunts them and they are still: they daren't move and disturb the choreography for you never know…

The man has eaten; the spirit changes back and stands up, bloodlust visible after the river and the tracking of the birds. She circles round her prey, she lusts for the kill, goes through the movements in anticipation; the audience is still.

At last the knife falls, so quickly for such a tension they nearly missed its movement. And now she is cleaning it slowly, you can see the blood dripping, you can smell its metallic tang in the air, you know the cloth is getting dirty. And now she smiles.

One of the guests faints.

--

« That was a good show my pet. »

The master and his companion are back in their quarters after the evening. He is undoing the obi, which Sasuke cannot reach, and commenting on the guests.

"The genjutsu was a nice touch but I would rather you scare them without it. The First Envoy for the Iwari clan was certainly impressed; I think we shall soon have a new client. On the other hand, I think his assistant was a bit _too_ impressed; this might not play in our favour. "

The obi is now undone and slides to the ground.

"I still don't see why you had to make me wear a friggin' kimono, I would have done just as well with a yukata.

- Tsk, tsk, it isn't summer yet.

- It might as well be with all those fires you keep.

- Even if it were summer a yukata wouldn't have been appropriate for the occasion. You should know that. I also saw that you used your tessen instead of a regular fan.

- Those sake jars couldn't tell the difference if it bit them in the...

- Sasuke! Please! This isn't the point."

The apprentice is now naked and walks off to the bathroom without waiting for the rest of the remonstrance. He squats next to a tap and begins to soap himself up.

The master sighs and begins to undress. This takes considerably less time as he isn't lecturing himself and he soon joins Sasuke in the nightly ritual.

"Wash my back? Please?

- You troublesome child, you won't learn good manners and proper rituals; the only things that interest you are training and eating. What am I ever going to do with you?

- Groom me until I become stronger than you and then retire and watch while I destroy your empire."

The lesser nins have filled a big wooden tub with hot water and both climb into it, settling to opposite sides without splashing with the skill of long habit. Orochimaru turns to face a window and watches the snow-covered bamboos and the iced-up pool with a graceful plum tree arching over it.

He murmurs: "You'd do it too."

--

Time has passed and the troublesome child has grown. He is now able to take on the master and not lose. He hasn't won yet, but that is only because he doesn't want the hurt the man too badly. He knows it might come to that one day, but he will only deal with the thought when he has to.

"Orochimaru-sama! Orochimaru-sama!

- What is it?

- Orochimaru-sama! Leaf shinobi have been sighted along the southern bank of the river 2 hours from here!

- Do they know where they are going?

- I don't know; they are coming towards us!"

Orochimaru turns on the spot, in a fix as to what to do.

"How many?

- Just a four-man team, but they have reinforcements.

- How do you know?

- We heard them talking on a portable radio. Orochimaru-sama, what are we going to _do_?"

Orochimaru rotates a bit more and comes to a decision.

"Bring Sasuke and Kabuto here.

- Hai!"

A genin passing next to Orochimaru-sama's room would have heard raised voices and one or two booms as fists smashed on the table in disagreement. But as this particular genin had a tapeworm that day and was being treated (read "slowly killed for the sake of science") on the other side of the compound, no one heard anything.

Some jounins were dispatched and took care of the intruders. The reinforcements found their corpses badly rotten and weren't able to tell the cause of their deaths. Kabuto snickered in the bushes while they puzzled themselves with weird theories and made a note to make some more of that decaying poison.

--

The master hadn't been seen for a while. Rumors began to spread around the compound that Orochimaru-sama was ill, that he was too old to hold command, that he was becoming senile. Bed bound since the attack on Konoha, said master raged and despaired in his room. The apprentice didn't visit him very often. He was somber and stalked around the place when not training, avoiding the thought of his master's weakness and the imminence of the soul transfer. Sasuke was torn between his affection and his hatred.

On one side, he wants that power since even though the master is weak now he still knows thousands of jutsus. On the other hand, he hates being controlled, and he hates Itachi enough to surrender to that control if it makes him win. But the price for victory may be too heavy. But he likes the master and doesn't want him to die. And _that _price may be too much. Decisions, decisions …

In his self-centeredness, Sasuke never thought that the transfer could be someone else. That he could hide until Orochimaru-sama was forced to transfer into that someone else; and then come back, take the beating and live there for a few more years.

Finally Kabuto caught him one evening.

"No training tonight Sasuke-kun, Orochimaru-sama will need you tomorrow.

- T-tomorrow!?

- Yes, I can't prolong his life anymore without risking him dying." Kabuto frowned, suddenly suspicious.

" I'm sure we wouldn't want that.

- …no. Of course not."

Sasuke turned and headed unsteadily back to his rooms. He thought he had longer than that! He thought that the master would last, that Kabuto would cure him, that… That he wouldn't have to make that choice.

Kabuto spent the night thinking about possible problems and their solutions. He was also skeptical about Sasuke's reaction. Orochimaru-sama had invested so much grooming the boy that it wouldn't do for him to turn tail just before completing his function.

Orochimaru-sama spent the night in a lot of pain. Since he couldn't sleep, couldn't have slept even if he was healthy because of the anticipation, he tried to pass the time by planning what he would do once he had the Sharingan and inventing new curses to the intention of the clock. It didn't really work.

Sasuke spent the night as a ball of nerves and looked terrible the next morning.

--

Since Orochimaru-sama was so weak, Kabuto had decided that the transfer would take place in his rooms. He arrived there at 9 o'clock sharp to set up some monitoring equipment and see if the master would require any stimulants or fortifiers.

He met Sasuke in the corridor.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"

Sasuke didn't answer. Kabuto peeked in Orochimaru-sama's room and came face to face with an ominous silence.

"Orochimaru-sama?"

The bed was tousled and empty. And there was a big stain on the wall.

"I see," grinned Kabuto, "you decided to start without me." He turned around to congratulate his master and perhaps examine him to check that the transfer had worked well but found him gone.

"Kabuto!

- Yes Orochimaru-sama?

- Get me a towel will you!

- Where are you?

- Bathroom, hurry up!"

Kabuto hurried there and found the master crumpled in the shower, soaking wet and with blood all over him.

"Orochimaru-sama what did you do?

- I washed myself, you idiot! I haven't been out of that bed for days! Sasuke hel-, Sasuke assisted me but he buggered off! "

Meanwhile, Kabuto had knelt next to his master and was helping him to a sitting position. He got the water faucet and began to rinse the blood off.

"Why did he go?

- How should I know!?

- Did you say anything that upset him? Mind your eyes."

Orochimaru stayed silent for a moment. Kabuto turned the water off and got some bandages from his pouch. The moment stretched as Kabuto bandaged his arms and dried him. It still hadn't broken when Orochimaru got back to his bed and sank down under the covers.

"So?"

Orochimaru answered in a low voice:

"He was already agitated when he came in this morning, he wouldn't look me in the eye. I said I wanted to wash myself, for this new day and new part of my life. I talked about what would happen after the transfer.

- Did you tell him what would happen _during_ the transfer?

- No. I was up to Konoha's destruction when I got in the shower. I was saying how he might want to see his old comrades before they died, and also whether he thought that the two of us would be enough to make Itachi beg- "

Kabuto elegantly face palmed.

"Didn't it ever occur to you Orochimaru-sama, that the only thing making Sasuke stay here was the prospect of actually crushing his brother?"

His master being obviously puzzled, he explained:

"Sasuke has only ever had one goal, Orochimaru-sama, he wants to kill his brother. But he doesn't want to go into battle wondering if he is going to win. He wants to know that he is going to win, and if you cannot guarantee that then there is a big chance that he will not allow you to be in complete control.

- ...

- I thought you knew. "

Orochimaru was shocked enough not to rescue his ego from this last jab. Kabuto shook his head gently from the realization that the pain and endless medicines had definitely destroyed his master's brain. Him who was so perceptive, who managed to get the boy freely laughing. How low he had sunk.

"Ah well, at least you got a shower. "

A pause.

"GET OUT! GET _OUT_ OF MY SIGHT!"

Kabuto ducked as his master found the strength to throw the bedside lamp and left him to stew in his rage and disappointment.

--

Sasuke strode blindly down the corridors of the base. He went past several people, each of whom paid him no attention; they considered it unhealthy to do so. This suited him; he could have beaten any of them in a matter of seconds but he badly needed the thinking time. A ferocious internal debate had flourished after Orochimaru's comment about his- _that man_. If his master couldn't even beat that person, then what was the point in letting himself get possessed? Why surrender his free will if he didn't need the extra boost? He had his Sharingan, the seal and all his years of training behind him, why waste them?

Now that the veil of affection had been lifted, Sasuke allowed himself to consider for the first time why Orochimaru never sparred against him anymore. Had he really become that strong? No-one ever provoked him at the base, he could get practically anything he wanted, Kabuto being the exception in that he usually managed to get out of the tasks Sasuke tried to set him. But that was slyness, not fighting abilities.

After his comment, it had become evident that the reason that Orochimaru never managed to possess Itachi's body was that he couldn't. So if Sasuke could beat Orochimaru too then he didn't need a boost. His ex-master had been good enough to join Akatsuki, so he should be able to deal with them.

Sasuke strode on as the haze of the past few years gradually left his mind.

--

Kabuto had gone back to his lab to cogitate a bit. Now that Orochimaru-sama had alienated Sasuke he would require another body, it was either that or tie Sasuke down while the transfer took place. He took Sasuke's folder down from a shelf and checked his compatibility levels. If they were high enough they could risk a forced transfer. Unfortunately, the effect of the Sharingan blood was unpredictable and could very well help Sasuke resist seeing as it was effective against genjutsu (in effect mental manipulation).

Mental strength was also another factor since for example they had never managed to make him forget his desire for revenge. Even after the drugs and brainwashing he would still have dreams about the massacre. The trauma had probably ingrained it too deeply in his subconscious for it to be completely suppressed. Even so, it was uncommon. And he always remembered who he was. His emotions and actions may have been warped, but his identity was one thing they never managed to touch.

No, a forced transfer was too dangerous. The master wasn't mentally up to the task of forcing himself into such a mind, he would get wounded or possibly obliterated. That left the option of drugging Sasuke but seeing how he'd resisted mind-altering drugs in the past Kabuto doubted the effectiveness of this method. So what now?

He really should check on Orochimaru-sama.

--

In the past ten hours, Kabuto had hooked Orochimaru up to an IV drip, a heart and blood pressure monitor and wheeled in a 2 hours supply of oxygen. He dosed his master up to his ears with morphine to get him to rest and went back to his lab to develop a way to decrease Sasuke's mental resistance. He found one. Unbeknownst to him it was the forerunner of Nembutal and probably his best bet at the moment. Kabuto readied two half-syringes of the stuff (he didn't dare use a full dose without thorough testing of the effects; he wanted Sasuke to be calm, not comatose) and stored them in his pouch.

For the past nine hours Sasuke had gone round the whole base at least thrice and was well on his way to completing a fourth circuit. However, he was gradually calming down and coming to an interesting realization: he couldn't have both his master and his ambition. One had to go and he knew which one, he just didn't want to admit it.

Orochimaru slept through the whole ten hours and dreamed that scantily dressed number thirty nines were dancing around his bed and taunting him.(3)

--

The decisive day finally dawned. Today would see the end of a three-year experiment, for better or for worse, and the closure of a chapter of many people's lives. It was ironic that the sun chose this day to put on its most dazzling appearance for weeks.

Sasuke had tried to sleep after finishing his fourth circuit but had risen again after mere hours and decided to pay an early visit to his… to Orochimaru. He was currently standing outside his bedroom door and listening to the faint bleeping of some machine, still undecided, still tied by the purple twine of his affection(4) to this manipulative bastard of a snake. The words of Hagakure-sensei came back to his mind:

"_When your mind is going hither and thither, discrimination will never be brought to a conclusion. With an intense, fresh and un-delaying spirit, one will make his judgments within the space of seven breaths. It is a matter of being determined and having the spirit to break right through to the other side."_

He was right, Sasuke had dithered and slithered around the issue and forgotten all that he was taught. He has been a coward and refused to look facts in the face, that was no more. He would decide now.

_One breath._

He still has some attachment to the bastard.

_Two breaths._

He has to kill his brother.

_Three breaths._

He hates being used.

_Four breaths._

He's strong enough.

_Five breaths._

Orochimaru is going down.

--

Orochimaru woke from a thick slumber to find a pair of black spheres staring at him. He blinked and the spheres attached themselves back to Sasuke's body; which was standing next to the bed fully kitted out for battle. Orochimaru tried to focus his sleepy eyes, the boy looked different. Not I-have-had-a-new-haircut different but I-have-made-a-decision different, especially the eyes. For the past month they had looked loose and wavering, even more so than the time when Sasuke had first received the drugs and constantly wondered where he was. That had been good, a wavering opponent was easy to overcome, but now those eyes looked positively flinty. Orochimaru flinched.

"What do you want Sasuke?"

Sasuke eyed the IV drip.

"I'm through with you.

- What do you mean? _Not now, not now out of all the times. Please not now… _

- You have nothing more to offer me. I'm sick of being manipulated.

- Sasuke!…

- I'm going."

--

Kabuto came again at nine o'clock sharp to check on his master. He passed Sasuke in the corridor.

"Good morning Sasuke-kun, where are you going?"

Sasuke stopped and turned to him. He cocked his head slightly to the side and eyed him with detached interest. Kabuto stepped back. His brain fired into action, taking the time and Sasuke-kun's probable direction into account and arriving to a worrying conclusion (he _is_ smart after all).

"Which one are you?"

The boy's answer was to activate his Sharingan.

_Sasuke was at Orochimaru's bedside. His ex-master had grabbed his clothes and looked positively feral. "Not after three years, you're not going!" The boy sneered at the invalid and tugged his hands off his pants. "And what are you_ _going do about it?" He backed a few steps and slid his kusanagi out of its sheath. The hissing sound made Orochimaru recoil in terror. "You wouldn't dare…", he whispered. Sasuke grinned:_

"_How do you know? _

_- I taught you everything you know! Without me you'd be nothing!_

_- I would have found another master. _

_- No one is as good as me._

_- My brother's better. I'm better."_

_The invalid shrank to the other side of the bed and the skin on his neck began to crawl. Literally. _

"_You haven't bested me! I'm the best ninja the world has ever seen!_

_- And you can't use ninjutsu._

_- Not for long!"_

_Orochimaru's neck rippled and his head exploded off his shoulders in a shower of blood. A gigantic white snake, composed of many smaller snakes, streaked through the air towards Sasuke with all teeth bared. The kusanagi streaked through the air in an upward arc and slashed the snake's head off in a beautifully fluid motion, a true work of art. The snake's purple blood splattered on the wall. _

_The setting changed, they were in a vast expense of dark sky and fleshy ground. Kabuto recognized it as the alternate dimension in which Orochimaru subdued his hosts' minds. There were several tumulus-like bulges on the floor, his previous victims._

_Sasuke and Orochimaru faced each other. While the boy was nearly covered by one of those mounds, the sannin was receiving the same treatment nearby, and obviously not enjoying it. _

"_How can you!"_

_Sasuke stood motionless. His Sharingan was activated. The mound of pink atrocity gradually fell away from him._

"_You're pathetic, chasing after whatever kekkei genkais you can to compensate for your own miserable performance. You're not worthy of the title of Sannin." _

_Orochimaru's cries suddenly became stifled. The flesh had covered his mouth. _

"Sasuke?"

Said boy turned and went on his way.

--

Kabuto burst through the door into his master's room and stopped. Very suddenly. It's not everyday you find a massive snake in someone's quarters. There were splashes of purple in a curve on the far wall next to the bed and the snake was on said bed with its head on the floor, obviously dead after serving as training post for sword practice. (5)

Moved by the fine tradition of denial, he sidled past the beast to check the bathroom. There was no Orochimaru under the shower, no crumpled groaning form with rivulets of its blood running down the drain and he felt his stomach constrict. _He did it. Sasuke won._ Now what was he going to do? He came back out of the bathroom and sat on the bed next to his ex-master. One of his hands came up and ghosted over the tiny snakes. They were dry and cold.

What was he going to do now? Sasori was dead. Orochimaru was dead. Sasuke was gone.

Kabuto knew that he was a spy but during his career so far he had always been a spy for someone. To gather knowledge with no one to give it to but the highest bidder was a new concept, which he turned over in his mind and finally shied from like a startled bird. It was unthinkable; he didn't fit in the idea. He needed a base, something to go back to and to define him as so-and-so's minion. Kabuto had always thought that he could have betrayed Orochimaru in a heartbeat, but now he saw why he never did. He needed him too much to throw away the only shred of identity he'd managed to build.

A resounding crash interrupted the now-ex spy's ruminations.

"Orochimaru-sama! Err….

- What is it?

- Where is Orochimaru-sama? What's this thing?

- Somewhere else. What do you want teme?

- Sasuke has just left the compound unaccompanied. He had no authorization and knocked out the guards at the door.

- Is that all?

- But Orochimaru-sama specifically told us to forbid him access to the outside when he is alone!

- Forget it, I doubt anyone in this compound can stop him now.

- But…

- I said forget it. It's an order.

- What's that thing on the bed?"

Kabuto turned to the snake as if he had forgotten its presence. He smiled back to the nin like a mother fondly remembering her newborn child.

"An experiment."

The nin was smart enough to leave Kabuto alone. This was the kind of smile that could get you drafted in an experiment, as basic material.

Kabuto turned back to the corpse and began to stroke its skin reflectively. He would need some of the blood and one of the small snakes. A syringe would come in handy. And a microscope and a centrifuge as well. That meant the lab. The medic nin took a scalpel from his pouch and began to carve one of the snakes out with long, precise strokes. _Hurray for obsidian blades_, he mused, _I've never had to sharpen that one yet_.

--

A pair of hands gripped the edge of the table so hard cracks were beginning to spread from them. A low whirring noise and a slight sloshing filled the background. Papers and notes weren't spread on every surface, instead a series of shelves and filing cabinets stood out from the back wall. No one said they were tidy. A microscope stood lonely on the table next to the hands and a pile of used slides, most with some dilute violet gunk crusted on them and others with some thin white slices of something suspicious.

The whirring and sloshing died down and the hands released the table after an extra squeeze. They went over to the whirring mechanism and removed a vial of something so darkly purple it was black from one of the many arms of the machine. They went back to the table and put the vial down on it; one of them travelled in a circular trajectory to a sort of cloth basket and removed a syringe and a scalpel from it. It put them on the table next to the vial.

Kabuto reviewed his plan one last time. Open a major vein, pour extract of Orochimaru in and add a bit of the snake, close wound before bleeding to death; it should work. He could very well have injected the extract at a lesser risk to himself but he wanted to be sure that it would work the first time, he would have no leisure for another dose later on. Sweating, he picked up the vial of Essence of Master and looked it over. He grinned weakly. It should work.

A few nins getting on with their usual business heard a resounding scream from the general direction of Kabuto's lab. No one reacted, they were used to the screams. As one man they carried on with their business with the single-minded determination of a ravenous stomach having sighted its dinner.

In the following hours, Orochimaru's up-to-now-faithful right hand disappeared. Orochimaru himself was nowhere to be found. Sasuke was long gone. All that was found were the remains of a gigantic snake butchered at the neck, other bits of the snake in Kabuto's lab and a big bloodied patch on the lab's table and floor.

The nins seized their chance and dispersed in the countryside. Test subjects were left behind to die for lack of water or of painful mistakes in new procedures or to choke when their oxygen supplies ran out.

Within a week all that was left were rats and corpses.

-hahahahahahahahahaha-

(This bit is by a friend, I don't own it.)

Sasuke stepped aside from the blow for the thousandth time. He imagined the parrying, the counter-thrust. He knew he would be the fastest, the strongest. And he was stopped dead by the blow of the master in his ribs.

"Can't we make the full movement yet? I am fed up with this displacement and nothing else.

- You can make the second step when you've completed the first. Repeat the tenkan", said Orochimaru.(6)

**Notes on the story:**

(1) Időtlen is from the hungarian idő - time and len- without. Literally means out of time, not subject to time, timeless.

(2) Tessens are small metal war-fans with sharp edges.

(3) Me suggests that you look up number 39 in dream interpretations.

(4) Purple stands for close relationships and long-lasting passion in Japanese poetry. Twine can mean either a thread or to coil around something.

(5) I nearly put in that the snake had died after re-enacting the French revolution but the anachronism would have been too big. Pity. :sigh:

(6) A tenkan is a type of displacement.

The quote is from_ Hagakure: The Book of the Samurai, In Decisions._

**A/N: **That's the longest thing I've ever written. I'm proud of myself. :wipes tear: It did take me months though.

The story starts somewhere in the beginning of Sasuke's three years at the Hidden Sound and joins back with the canon at the end. I know that the end doesn't fit perfectly with the canon but it suits me.


End file.
